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Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd.
Doragon Gēto Puroresu Kabushiki-kaisha
ドラゴンゲートプロレス株式会社
Dglogo3
Acronym DG
Type Private
Industry Professional wrestling
Puroresu
Lucha Libre
Corporate number 4140001020186
Founded July 5, 2004
Founder(s) Takashi Okamura
Headquarters Kobe, Hyogo, Japan
Area served Worldwide
Parent GAORA
Sister Dragon Gate USA
Dragon Gate UK
Formerly Toryumon Japan
Subsidiaries Dragon Gate NEX
Dragon Gate Records
Dragon Gate UK
Website Official Japanese Website

Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling Co., Ltd. (ドラゴンゲートプロレス株式会社, Doragon Gēto Puroresu Kabushiki-kaisha), operating as Dragon Gate Pro-Wrestling (ドラゴンゲートプロレス, Doragon Gēto Puroresu) and often referred to as Dragon Gate (ドラゴンゲート, Doragon Gēto), is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion formerly known as Toryumon Japan. It stayed behind after Último Dragón left Toryumon and took the name and rights with him in 2004 Most of Dragon Gate's wrestlers were graduates from Último Dragón's Toryumon Gym, and thus the promotion is based on a Junior Heavyweight style with varying emphasis on high flying maneuvers, flashy technical grappling, and submissions.

Since its creation, Dragon Gate was one of a few promotions to be broadcasted by GAORA. Dragon Gate is arguably the second largest wrestling promotion in Japan, in terms of attendance and revenue. Dragon Gate has also engaged in working agreements with other promotions around Japan, including DDT Pro-Wrestling, Pro Wrestling NOAH and New Japan Pro Wrestling, and also around the world, including AAA and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Dragon Gate's biggest event is the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival, which celebrates the anniversary of Dragon Gate.

Overview

History

In early June 2004, it was announced that Ultimo Dragon, who just returned from a one-year stint with WWE, leaving the Toryumon Japan promotion and taking the Toryumon name since he owned the rights. The last show was promoted under the Toryumon name that took take place at the fifth anniversary show "Vo Aniversario" at Kobe World Hall in Hyogo on July 4. Takashi Okamura, was serving as the Director of Toryumon Japan while Ultimo was in WWE, then he announced that the promotion would continue on independently as Dragon Gate.

Naming the promotion Dragon Gate was itself taken from the meaning of the word Toryumon itself. The word was coined after the homonym that is translated as climbing up dragon gate, which means the gateway to success.

Following the split, Dragon Gate immediately went on to work, launching the Every Day Pro Wrestling project. As part of the Fuji Television "Adventure King" as an attraction in Tokyo, Dragon Gate wrestlers would wrestle two shows per day throughout July and August, often having two or three matches per show. They would hold the larger scale "Premium" shows once a week during this time. The project was a success and it brought in new fans to Dragon Gate and wrestling in general. They would hold a second in 2005, which further increased the fanbase.

The promotion reached a very intriguing predicament by the end of 2004 and going into the start of 2005 as several key wrestlers left, either by their own or by being fired. Those who left were Milano Collection AT, SUWA, TARU, and the entire Aagan Iisou unit, the latter group has been the main heels of the promotion. Also, the highly popular and revolutionary Crazy MAX unit had folded due to SUWA's departure. Following a bad period in the month of January in 2005, company ace CIMA would turn heel and start a new unit called Blood Generation that got the promotion back on track.

2005 also saw the foundations for expansion outside of Japan, a very ambitious concept for a company that was nearly a year into its independent existence. CIMA, along with first Dragon Gate trueborn's graduate Shingo Takagi, traveled to the United States to wrestle in ROH. In November, they ran a show in Kanan, China that drew 3,500 attendance, setting the creation of plans to run shows in the United States and South Korea. Also in November, Mexican gaijin Vangelis and King Shisa, who would later reveal to be Pentagon Black, appeared in Dragon Gate and were followed by American gaijin Jack Evans and Roderick Strong. This would set the tone for the promotion, previously under isolationist principles, for the most part, opening their doors to outside talent from 2006 onward.

Dragon Gate sended talent to ROH and PWG in 2006 where they immediately won the heart of American fans, through which produced the legendary Blood Generation vs. Do FIXER in a six-man tag team match on March 31, 2006 in Chicago Ridge, Illinois that won acclaimed and earned Match of the Year honours of the Wrestling Observer as well as a prestigious five-star rating from its chief editor Dave Meltzer. In addition, Dragon Gate would a start series of events called WrestleJAM, bringing together wrestlers from Japan, America, and Mexico to celebrate and showcase their in-ring styles.

On January 6, 2008 CIMA announced at the end of a PWG show that Dragon Gate would be running their first US show in Los Angeles later that year. It would take place on September 5, 2008 in Bell Gardens, which they followed with a show in Waikiki, Hawaii the next day. This would lay the expansion for the launch of Dragon Gate USA the following year.Also in 2008 since Naoki Tanizaki's return to the promotion, Dragon Gate started to allow their wrestlers to compete elsewhere in Japan.

Despite an unfortunate incident that was made public in mid-2009, Dragon Gate continued to grow stronger than ever with increasing fanbases in Japan and in the United States following the first Dragon Gate USA show on July 25 in the former ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Furthermore, they ran the first of what would become the annual visits to Europe, in particular, the United Kingdom, in October and November, later it was created a sister promotion called Dragon Gate UK that increased the fanbase in Europe including BxB Hulk making the first ever title defense of The Open The Freedom Gate Championship in Japan on December 12 against Susumu Yokosuka. Later 2014 Dragon Gate hold their last show in the UK and since then it wasn't held any shows in the UK. On August 15, 2015 Dragon Gate ended their expansion in the USA in order to Gabe Sapolsky focus more on Evolve.

On July 21, following the Kobe World Pro Wrestling Festival, it was reported that Open The Dream Gate Championship has been lost. Following this, it was immediately reported to the police the incident. All championship titles were locked in aluminum suitcases. All titles were found, except for the Open The Dream Gate Championship which as declared stolen. The situation was declared to be further investigated and Takashi Okumura made the highest priority finding the championship, leading to the promotion ordering a new title. On March 21, 2018 at Memorial Gate in Wakayama, Dragon Gate announced Dragon Gate Network, a new streaming site for the promotion's events.

Roster

Since the promotion started to run independently in 2004, Dragon Gate has functioned on having a vast majority of its roster aligned with one unit or another. There are generally multiple factions active at one time.

ANTIASlogo
Over Generation4
Tribe Vanguard4
MaxiMuM
Dglogo2

Staff

Name Role
Eiichi Fujimoto Photographer
Katsuya Ichikawa Play-by-play commentary and backstage interviewer
Mr. Nakagawa Referee
Naoto Kikuchi Ring announcer
Takashi Okamura President
Takayuki Yagi Referee and general manager
Toru Kido Senior managing director and commissioner
Yatsuka Nakazawa Dragon Gate Records

Broadcasters

Current

  • Gaora (2004-present, broadcasting monthly show and live specials)
  • Dragon Gate Infinity (2000-present, broadcasting live and taped shows)
  • Nico Nico Douga (2016-present, streaming untelevised spot-shows and interviews)
  • Dragon Gate Network (streaming service, in partnership with Gaora, broadcasting most Dragon Gate shows live, as well as on-demand classic)

Unit History

Since the start of Dragon Gate until now, the first six units were formed before like Crazy MAX, Florida Express, Aagan Iisou, Italian Connection, Final M2K and Do FIXER. The others unit are since their formation until their disbanding.

  • ■ Founding member
  • ▲ Left the unit
  • ▼ joined the unit
  • ● rejoined the unit
  • ★ Leader
Start 2004 Final M2K
(July 4, 2004- January 14, 2007)
★■ Masaaki Mochizuki
Susumu Yokosuka
K-ness
Kenichiro Arai
▼▲ Second Doi/Naruki Doi
▼▲ Yamato Onedera
Crazy MAX
(July 4, 2004 - November 28, 2004)

★■ CIMA
TARU
SUWA
■ ▲● Don Fujii
Shingo Takagi
Do FIXER
(July 4, 2004 - February 2007)

Ryo Saito
Dragon Kid

★▲▼Magnum TOKYO
Genki Horiguchi▲▼ Naoki Tanizaki
Italian Connection
(July 4, 2004 - March 2005)

★■ Milano Collection AT
YOSSINO
Anthony W. Mori
Aagan Iisou
(July 4, 2004 - December 31, 2004)

★▲Masaaki Mochizuki
■★ Shuji Kondo
"brother" YASSHI
Toru Owashi
Shogo Takagi

Takuya Sugawara
Florida Express
(July 4, 2004 - July 11, 2010)

★▲ Michael Iwasa
Daniel Mishima
Johnson Florida
Kenskee Sasaki
Jackson Florida
End 2004 Iron Perms
(September 19, 2004 - November 11, 2004)
★▲ Don Fujii
Naoki Tanizaki
Second Doi
Waku Waku Fuji Land(November 2004 - January 14, 2005)
★▲ CIMA
Don Fujii
Stalker Ichikawa
Super Shisa
Shingo Takagi
Start 2005 Blood Generation
(January 14, 2005 - April 23, 2006)

★■ CIMA
Don Fujii
Shingo Takagi

Gamma
Naoki Tanizaki
Naruki Doi
Masato Yoshino
▼▲ Magnitude Kishiwada
Pos.HEARTS
(March 28, 2005 - February 23, 2007)

★■ Anthony W. Mori
BxB Hulk
Super Shisa
■ ▲ Magnum Tokyo
End 2005
Start 2006 Blood Generation(CIMA's new version)
(April 23, 2006 - January 14, 2007)

★■ CIMA
Don Fujii

Shingo Takagi
Matt Sydal
Jack Evans
▼▲BxB Hulk
Roderick Strong
Tozawa-juku
(April 12, 2006 - November 16, 2008)
★■ Akira Tozawa
Taku Iwasa
Kenichiro Arai
Kouji Shishido
Shinobu

▼▲ El Generico
Yuki Ono
▼▲Takayuki Mori
Muscle Outlaw'z
(April 23, 2006 - May 14, 2008)


★■ Gamma
Magnitude Kishiwada
Yasushi Kanda
Genki Horiguchi
Dr. Muscle
Naruki Doi
Masato Yoshino
Naoki Tanizaki
YAMATO
Cyber Kong
Kinta Tamaoaka
Arik Cannon
Pentagon Black
▼▲ Kevin Steen
Muscle Gang
Jimmy Rave
Jack Evans

Renaissance
(2006 - January 7, 2007)

★■ Magnum Tokyo
Masaaki Mochizuki
Don Fujii
Yasushi Kanda
End 2006
Start 2007 Typhoon
(January 21, 2007

- December 28, 2008)
★■ CIMA
Dragon Kid
Susumu Yokosuka
Ryo Saito
Anthony W. Mori
PAC
▼▲ BxB Hulk
▼▲ Shingo Takagi

Mushozoku
(2007 - February 24, 2008)

★■ Masaaki Mochizuki
K-ness.
Don Fujii
Magnitude Kishiwada
New Hazard
(April 17, 2007 - May 14, 2008)

★■ Shingo Takagi
BxB Hulk
Cyber Kong
YAMATO
▼▲ Jack Evans
▼▲ Shinobu
▼▲ El Generico
▼▲ Austin Aries
End 2007
Start 2008 Real Hazard
(May 14, 2008 - March 3, 2010)

★■ Shingo Takagi
★■YAMATO
Gamma
Yasushi Kanda

Kenichiro Arai
Takuya Sugawara
Kzy
Genki Horiguchi
Cyber Kong

▼▲ Susumu Yokosuka
▼▲ K-ness.
▼▲Ryo Saito
▼▲KAGETORA
▼▲Cyber Kongcito

WORLD-1
(May 31, 2008 - April 14, 2011)

★■▲ Naruki Doi
★■ Masato Yoshino
BxB Hulk

Susumu Yokosuka
K-ness.
PAC
m.c.KZ.
Kotoka
Naoki Tanizaki
Veteran-Gun
(2008 - April 24, 2011)

★■ Masaaki Mochizuki
Don Fujii
Magnitude Kishiwada

▼▲Akebono
Kenichiro Arai
Super Shisa
End 2008
Start 2009 WARRIORS-5
(March 1, 2009

- February 27, 2010)

★■ CIMA
Gamma
Dragon Kid
■▲ Susumu Yokosuka
■▲ KAGETORA
▼▲ RYOMA

KAMIKAZE
(January 11, 2009 - May 12, 2011)

★■ Shingo Takagi
Taku Iwasa
Akira Tozawa

YAMATO
Cyber Kong
KAGETORA
▼▲ El Generico
Dragon Kid
Kenshin Chikano
End 2009
Start 2010 Deep Drunkers
(March 3, 2010 - October 13, 2010)

★■ Kenichiro Arai
Yasushi Kanda
Takuya Sugawara
Kzy
Naoki Tanizaki
WARRIORS
(February 27, 2010 - January 14, 2011)

★■ CIMA
Dragon Kid
Genki Horiguchi

▼▲ Ryo Saito
▼▲ Ricochet
▼▲ Brodie Lee
Gamma
End 2010 Naruki Doi Unamed Unit
(October 13, 2010 - January 14, 2011)

★■ Naruki Doi
Yasushi Kanda
Takuya Sugawara
Naoki Tanizaki
Kzy

Gamma
Start 2011 Blood Warriors
(January 14, 2011 - March 1, 2012)

★▲ CIMA
★■ Naruki Doi
Akira Tozawa
Naoki Tanizaki
Brodie Lee

BxB Hulk
Tomahawk TT
Kzy
Uhaa Nation
■ ▲ Gamma
■ ▲ Dragon Kid
■ ▲ Yasushi Kanda
■ ▲ Ryo Saito
■ ▲ Genki Horiguchi
■ ▲ Ricochet
▼▲● Cyber Kong
Masaaki Mochizuki Army
(April 24, 2011 - June 8, 2011)

★■ Masaaki Mochizuki
Masato Yoshino
Susumu Yokosuka
BxB Hulk
PAC

Dragon Kid
Super Shisa
Shingo Takagi
YAMATO
KAGETORA
Rich Swann
End 2011 Junction Three
(June 8, 2011 - February 9, 2012)

★■ Masaaki Mochizuki
Dragon Kid
Super Shisa
Masato Yoshino
Shingo Takagi
YAMATO
PAC
Rich Swann
Jimmy Kagetora
Jimmy Susumu
■▲ BxB Hulk
▼▲ Gamma
Start

2012

WindowsMG
(May 10, 2012 - July 22, 2013)

★■ Kenichiro Arai
K-ness.
Super Shisa

Kotoka
Shisa BOY
World-1 International
(March 25, 2012 - September 12, 2013)

★▲ Naruki Doi
★■ Masato Yoshino
Ricochet
Rich Swann

Shachihoko BOY
Johnny Gargano
PAC
-akatsuki-
(April 19, 2012 - August 1, 2013)

★■ Shingo Takagi
Super Shelong III
Chihiro Tominaga

Cyber Kong
■▲YAMATO
Jimmyz
(March 3, 2012-September 18, 2017)

★■ Jimmy Susumu
Jimmy Kagetora

Jimmy K-ness J.K.S.
Jimmy Kanda
Ryo "Jimmy" Saito
Genki Horiguchi H.A.Gee.Mee!!
▼▲ Mr. Kyu Kyu Naoki Tanizaki Toyonaka Dolphin
Team Veteran Returns
(February 26, 2012-July 2013)

★■ CIMA
Gamma
Masaaki Mochizuki
Don Fujii
Dragon Kid
"Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa
▼▲Magnitude Kishiwada
▼▲HUB
▼▲Taka Michinoku
▼▲Sanshiro Takagi
End

2012

Mad Blankey
(March 1, 2012 - August 16, 2015)

Naruki Doi
★▼ YAMATO
★■▲ Akira Tozawa
Mondai Ryu
Punch Tominaga
BxB Hulk
■▲● Cyber Kong
■▲ Kzy
■▲ Mr. Pii Pii Tomakomai Penguin/Naoki Tanisaki
▼ Scott Read
CIMA
Gamma
Don Fujii
K-ness.
▼Larry Dallas
Uhaa Nation
Start 2013 M2K
(June 5, 2013 - June 16, 2013)

Masaaki Mochizuki
K-ness.
Jimmy Susumu
Jimmy Kanda
End 2013 Millennials
(July 21, 2013-August 6, 2015)

Eita
★■ T-Hawk
U-T
Flamita

Kotoka
El Lindaman
Yosuke♥Santa Maria
Rocky Lobo
Monster Express
(August 30, 2013-October 12, 2016)

★■ Masato Yoshino
Akira Tozawa
■▲ Shingo Takagi
■▲ Ricochet
Shachihoko BOY
Big R Shimizu
Peter Kaasa
■▲Uhaa Nation
▼▲ T-Hawk
▼▲Anthony Nese
We Are Team Veteran
(July 2013 - November 6, 2014)

★■ CIMA
Gamma
Don Fujii
K-ness.
Super Shisa
Kenichiro Arai
Masaaki Mochizuki
Dragon Kid
"Hollywood" Stalker Ichikawa
Start 2014
End 2014 Dia.HEARTS
(September 9, 2014 - February 4, 2016)

★■ BxB Hulk
Masaaki Mochizuki
Dragon Kid
Kzy
Big R Shimizu
Flamita
Start 2015
End 2015 VerserK
(August 30, 2015-January 13, 2018)

★■ Shingo Takagi
Cyber Kong/Takashi Yoshida

Mondai Ryu
T-Hawk
"brother" YASSHI
Naoki Tanizaki
El Lindaman
Yasushi Kanda
■▲ Naruki Doi
■▲●▲ Punch Tominaga
■▲ YAMATO

■▲● Eita
■▲ Kotoka
Over Generation
(October 8, 2015-Present)

★■ CIMA
Gamma
■▲ Eita
■▲ Punch Tominaga
Kaito Ishida
Takehiro Yamamura

Dragon Kid
■▲ El Lindaman

Mondai Ryu
SUMØWZ
(October 8, 2015 - March 5, 2016)
★■ SUMO Fujii
SUMO Susumu
SUMO Hagetora
SUMO Kanda
Genki Horiguchi S.U.M.O/Genki Horiguchi S.U.M.Ooo
Ryo "SUMO" Saito
SUMO K-ness S.K.S.
Start 2016 Tribe Vanguard
(May 5, 2016-Present)

BxB Hulk
★■ YAMATO
■▲ Kzy
Yosuke♥Santa Maria
Flamita
U-T
End 2016
Start 2017 MaxiMuM
(April 7, 2017-Present)
★■ Naruki Doi
★■ Masato Yoshino
▲■ Kotoka
Big R Shimizu
Ben-K
Jason Lee
End 2017
Start 2018 ANTIAS
(January 13, 2018-Present)

Shingo Takagi
Takashi Yoshida

★■ T-Hawk
★■ El Lindaman
Yasushi Kanda
★■ Eita

Championships

Active Championships

Championship Current champion(s) Reign Date won Days held
Open The Dream Gate Championship Mochidream3 Masaaki Mochizuki 3 September 18, 2017 2383+
Open The Triangle Gate Championship MaxiMuM26Tag MaxiMuM
(Naruki Doi, Masato Yoshino and Jason Lee)
1
(13, 11, 1)
December 23, 2017 2287+
Open The Brave Gate Championship Bravegate Vacated N/A March 21, 2018 2199+
Open The Twin Gate Championship T-hawkeita4 ANTIAS
(Eita and T-Hawk)
4
(4, 6)
December 23, 2017 2287+
Open The Owarai Gate Championship Takagiowarai Shingo Takagi 2 March 6, 2017 2214+

Inactive Championships

Championship Last Champion(s) Date Won Notes
I-J Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Masato Yoshino and Naruki Doi October 12, 2007 Unified with Open The Twin Gate Championship on October 12, 2007
Open The Owarai Twin Gate Championship Don Fujii and Kikutaro April 12, 2009 Has seemingly been forgotten about after its first appearance
International Junior Heavyweight Championship Masaaki Mochizuki November 23, 2006 Mochizuki beat Gedo in a decision match on January 26, 2007 to determine the then final champion and then retired the title.

Tournaments

Tournament Last winner Last held
King of Gate T-Hawk June 11, 2017
Summer Adventure Tag League Tournament Over Generation
(Dragon Kid and Eita)
September 10, 2016

Affiliates

Promotion name Location Partnered on Notes
Dragon Gate NEX Japan 2006 Active
Dragon Gate USA United States 2009 Inactive
Dragon Gate UK United Kingdom 2009 Inactive

Events

Marquee events

Marquee tours

  • 5 Units Survival Race
  • Open the New Year Gate
  • Brand New Gate
  • Fantastic Gate
  • Gate of Evolution
  • Gate of Generation
  • Gate of Victory
  • Gate of Maximum
  • Fantastic Gate
  • NEX Sanctuary
  • PRIME ZONE
  • Rainbow Gate
  • Truth Gate

External links

Dglogo
Dragon Gate
Dglogo
Dglogo
Wrestlers
ZBratslogo KAIShun SkywalkerH.Y.ODiamanteISHIN
NaturalVibes KzyJacky "Funky" KameiU-TBig Boss ShimizuStrong Machine JJason Lee
KungFuMasterslogo Jason LeeJacky "Funky" KameiHo Ho LunSuper Shenlong III
GoldClasslogo Kota MinouraMinoritaBen-KBxB Hulk
M3K Masaaki MochizukiYasushi KandaSusumu MochizukiMochizuki Junior
DCouragelogo Dragon DiaYuki YoshiokaMadoka Kikuta
Dg2019logo2
Unaffiliated
Último DragónDon FujiiDragon KidKagetoraKeni'chiro AraiKonomama IchikawaShachihoko BOYYosuke♥Santa MariaPunch TominagaMondai RyuShuji KondoNaruki DoiYAMATOTakashi YoshidaEitaGenki HoriguchiRyo SaitoRyu Fuda • Kaito Nagano • Yoshiki Kato

Dglogo
Championships
Active Open the Dream GateOpen the Brave GateOpen the Twin GateOpen the Triangle Gate
Inactive Open the Freedom GateOpen the United GateOpen the Owarai GateOpen the Owarai Twin GateI-J Heavyweight Tag Team ChampionshipInternational Junior Heavyweight Championship
Dglogo
Tournaments
Current King of GateRey De Parejas
Former El Numero UnoSummer Adventure Tag LeagueKing of Chop5 Units Survival Race
Dglogo
Events
Champion GateMemorial GateDead or AliveKobe Pro-Wrestling FestivalDangerous GateThe Gate of OriginGate of DestinyFinal Gate
Dglogo
Dragon Gate Events
Dglogo
Current Champion Gate 2011Hakata 2011Osaka 2012Hakata 2012Osaka 2013Hakata 2014Osaka 2015Osaka 2016Osaka 2017Osaka 2018Osaka 2019Osaka 2020Osaka 2021Osaka 2022
Dangerous Gate 2012201420152016201720182019202020212022
Dead or Alive 20082009201020112012201320142015201620172018201920212022
Final Gate 2007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Gate of Destiny 2007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022
Memorial Gate 20072012 · 20132014201520162017Sendai20182019202020212022
The Gate of Origin 20182019202020212022
Defuncted Double Impact in Hakata · Last Gate (2012 & 2013) · Scandal Gate (2014 & Kyoto & Kobe & Tokyo & 2017) · Compilation Gate · Gate of Anniversary · Gate of Legend · Gate of Sanctuary
Tours Current NEX Sanctuary • PRIME ZONE • Open The New Year Gate • Truth Gate • Glorious Gate • Gate Of Passion • King of Gate • Gate of Maximum • Rainbow Gate • Gate of Generation • Gate of Victory • Gate of Evolution • Brand New Gate • Fantastic Gate
Inactive Farewell Jimmyz Gate5 Units Survival Race • Crown Gate • Primal Gate • Storm Gate • Aggressive Gate • Summer Adventure Tag LeagueBuyuden • Gajoen Gate • WrestleJAM • Brave Gate Tour • Gate of Adventure (Open the Triangle Gate) • Every Day Pro Wrestling • Gate of Renaissance • El Numero UnoOpen the GateRey de Parejas • Italian Revolution Year • End Gate
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